Newsies Pape Selling Competition Entries
by Sis21K
Summary: I decided to put all my stories for the NPSC in one place.
1. The Night We Won

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition. (P.S. You can still join!)**

 **Circulation One: Favorite Newsie. Task: A time when the newsboys held a party for your favorite newsie.**

 **Prompts Used: -Object: Sugar** **-Dialogue: "I'm not going to pretend you deserve it!"** **-Color: Yellow**

 **Word Count: 1,418**

 **As you can see, currently my favorite newsie is Jack, specifically Jack played by Jeremy Jordan. Enjoy!**

It was a cold night.

Not the kind of cold that makes you want to bundle up by a roaring fire, but a good, brisk kind of cold. The air had a bite to it. If you were moving at all, you didn't even notice.

Jack was used to this kind of cold, and he liked it. It made him want to run and jump and climb. And on this night in particular, yell for joy. The strike was behind them now—and they had won. Yes, the Newsies of Lower Manhattan had beaten publishing giant Pulitzer, and saved The World from a great injustice. It was a wonderful feeling.

Jack was alone on the street. All the newsies—and Katherine—were at the Lodging House, waiting for him. Heck, they were probably asleep. It had been a long day, filled with shouts and fights and hugs and…winning. That was the main thing. Jack couldn't get over it… _we won._

Along with the happiness, there came another gnawing pain. After the strike had been settled, he had mentioned leaving for Santa Fe. It had been time for his dream to finally come true—ah, who was he kidding? Had he really thought that they would let him go, after everything that had just happened? Jack understood now that there was no way he could leave his brothers—not to mention Katherine—but yet…

There was a certain sadness about it, now that he thought about his lost dream. Jack looked up into the sky. There was the moon, blurry, cold, and distant. He stopped and allowed himself a moment to close his eyes and think about the moon in Santa Fe. How long ago had it been that he had added that moon to his standard vision of Santa Fe? _"_ _Just a moon so big and yellow, it turns night right into day!"_ He saw that yellow moon in his mind's eye—the color of butter. It hung so low to the ground in Santa Fe that you could reach out and touch it. He wanted that yellow moon to warm him. Someday, he'd see it—

No, that dream was done now. Maybe someday he could visit Santa Fe, but he knew his home was here—in stinky old New York City.

Jack found himself at the door to the Lodging House. He pressed an ear to the door. Yep, just as he'd thought—not a sound. They were all asleep. He might as well climb up the side ladder to the roof, so as not to disturb anyone. But he realized Katherine was in there. He forgot—she had sent him to her apartment to shut her window. It was a dumb thing, but she said she didn't want burglars sneaking in, and Jack could climb the fire escape up to her window. The funny thing was, it was already closed. Still, she might be waiting up for him. Actually, he kind of hoped she was waiting up for him.

So he opened the door, suddenly squinting in the light of all the lamps that had been lit. How could they sleep in this—

"SURPRISE!" came the collective shout, and newsies sprang out from dozens of different hiding spots. Jack jumped back in shock. He caught a glimpse of Katherine's face among the crowd of newsies, and she was beaming smugly at him. The window had just been a ploy to get him out of the Lodging House! He laughed as they all surrounded him.

"Wha—what is this?" he asked.

"A party!" Les yelped, his face smeared with chocolate. Jack saw the remains of a lopsided chocolate cake setting on a bed. Apparently the newsies hadn't been able to wait to start eating it before he got back. Jack remembered Katherine mentioning baking a cake a few days ago, saying how horribly it had turned out. He laughed again.

"What for?"

"Winnin' the strike, dummy!" Race said, knocking him on the head.

"We won, we won, we won!" Les shouted, running in circles around Jack. Clearly, the sugar was making the little boy just a bit overexcited.

"But why'd you all jump out and yell 'surprise' at me?"

"Because you led us to victory!"

"Aw, I didn't—"

"I thought it was a 'we'se glad you ain't going to Santa Fe' party," Henry said, looking confused.

"No, it's a 'we beat Pulitzer' party!"

"Then why'd we all yell 'surprise' at Jack?"

"Because he's the one who helped us do it!"

"Wait, wait, wait. I thought this was a 'gagement party."

"A what?"

"You know, a 'gagement." Elmer looked around at the confused faces. "A 'gagement! Between Jack and Katherine." Katherine's head shot up. She raised an eyebrow at Jack, who shrugged. "Ain't this because they'se getting married?"

"WHAT?!"

"Woah, woah, slow down there," Jack said, walking over to put his arm around Katherine. "I don't think that's it. We'se gotta wait a bit for that."

"The point is, we'se having a party because you won the strike." Davey finally spoke. He had been in a corner, frowning at the chaos. "And I'm not going to pretend you deserve it."

Jack rounded on him. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded.

Davey shrugged. "Well, if I remember correctly, you were about to take Pulitzer's money and zip off to Santa Fe, leavin' us in the dust. Even after we got Brooklyn over here."

"Okay, listen…"

"I'm just sayin', you weren't with us the whole time."

"But he came back to us, didn't he?" Katherine frowned, getting defensive.

"Yeah, Jack never went through with it!"

"Hey, hey, guys…settle down…" Jack took a step forward and raised his hands to quiet them. He leaned towards Davey, a mischievous smirk on his face. "Davey ain't really mad. He's just jealous! He wanted a party of his own!" The newsies roared with laughter. Davey's protests were drowned out. After a moment, even he cracked a smile.

"Um, no, that's not it," Davey said after the newsies's laughs had quieted to snickers. "Sorry, Jack, I guess I'm just tired. It's late. Les and I should be getting home." He glanced at Les, who was the exact opposite of tired. He was leaping between bunk beds, pausing only to jump on particularly springy ones. Jack wondered vaguely when the excess sugar would cause Les to crash.

"Aw, stay for the party, Davey!" Crutchie emerged from the crowd of newsies. "We'se barely gotten started!"

"And you might be tired, but Les ain't," Jack added, as Les reached down from an upper bunk for another handful of cake.

Davey sighed dramatically. "Well, I guess."

"You know who really deserves a surprise party?" Jack asked, putting his arm around a certain newsie. "This kid. Crutchie. The only one of us to do time in the Refuge for this strike."

Crutchie blushed.

"I was thinking the same thing," Katherine said, smiling, "But there was no way for us to get him out of here."

"Is that some kind of cripple joke?" Crutchie asked good-naturedly.

"Well, you can't exactly climb a fire escape to close a window…one that didn't need closing," Jack said, tussling Crutchie's hair and rolling his eyes at Katherine.

"And I think you'd be too smart to fall for something like that anyway," Katherine said.

"You saying I ain't smart?" Jack pulled Katherine toward him with his free arm.

"No. I'm just saying your mind was on other things, so much that you didn't question it."

"That's for sure."

Jack went over to the demolished chocolate cake and took a handful of what was left. He sat down on the floor and watched the newsies celebrate their victory around him. He could see how Les had gotten so riled up—this cake must have had a pound of sugar in each bite.

Jack felt so happy, he wished this night could last forever; all of them partying like they didn't have a care in the world, knowing they were more than just poor newsboys—they were winners. Still, Jack knew they would have to wake up tomorrow and start selling all over again. Tomorrow would be _almost_ back to normal, not that anything would ever be the same again. He let them celebrate, even knowing how hard it would be to wake them all up in the morning. It was a night of happiness, and he didn't want to spoil it.

Tomorrow, they would be confident newsies. But for tonight, they were just happy kids.


	2. Two Hours

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition.**

 **Word count: 2349**

 **Task: your newsies meet in a movie theater**

 **Prompt: Dialogue-"This shouldn't be possible."**

 **Newsie pair used: Les meets Les**

 **I used a modern-day movie theater, which was fun for me since I usually write in cannon era. Enjoy!**

"Save your popcorn, Les!" Davey groaned.

Les looked up guiltily, a handful of buttery popcorn halfway to his mouth. "Idoewanna! Ihtoogoob!" A few kernels fell on the floor.

"If you eat it all before the previews even start, you'll get a stomachache," Davey said. "And swallow before you talk," he added, frowning. "I can't understand a word you're saying."

Les chewed ferociously and then gulped. "I said, I don't wanna. It's too good." He took several big gulps of his large soda, which was already half empty. Davey sighed, staring wistfully at his own medium bucket of popcorn, which he always saved religiously until the movie started.

Les kept eating. "When's it gonna start, Davey, when?" he asked.

Davey looked at his watch. "About five more minutes. Won't you just save your popcorn? You're going to regret eating it all right now."

"I'm not eating it _all_ ," Les said through another mouthful. He tilted his bucket towards Davey. "See? There's still a lot in there."

"If you say so." Davey gave up.

Les had reason enough to be excited. They rarely went to the movies; Les hadn't been to the cinema for years. Their parents were strict about not giving them money for recreation since they'd gotten their paper routes, so when Les came home from school begging Davey to take him to the newest popular sci-fi movie that _everyone_ had seen but him, Davey suggested they save up their money. The paper route meant they had to wake up before dawn to make their way down the street, throwing a newspaper on the porch of each house in their neighborhood, but the cash in what Les dubbed "The Movie Jar" was worth it. They were allowed an entire Saturday afternoon to spend their earnings, and the first place Les wanted to go was the cinema, as planned.

So here they were. Les had just shoved another handful of popcorn in his mouth and frowned because his fingers had scraped the bottom of the tub when the big screen lit up and the first previews began. Les grinned, several pieces of popcorn fell out of his mouth. He'd forgotten how awesome the surround-sound was.

The first trailer finished with a series of explosions that made Les's teeth vibrate. He suddenly realized he had to go to the bathroom, and poked Davey as he stood up. Davey nodded dismissively and Les hurried down the aisle and out of the dark theatre, trying not to bounce around too much. His bladder felt as if it was going to burst-what was it about soda at the movies that made a person have to _go_ right away?

In the restroom, he did his business as quickly as he could and rinsed his hand, not bothering to use soap. No one else was in the bathroom.

That is, he _thought_ no one else was in the bathroom.

But when Les looked up, he saw a very familiar person standing behind him. The figure was slowly peeking out of a stall. Les froze, staring at the mirror. The person paused. Their eyes met.

The boy looked just like Les.

Sure, he was a little dirtier; he was wearing old, torn clothes, and his hair was shaggy, but the resemblance was astounding. Les turned around and clutched the sink behind him. The two boys stared at each other.

Then the dirty boy spoke. "You look a lot like me."

Les laughed. "Yeah." Even their voices were similar.

"Can you help me?" The boy seemed frightened. "I don't know where I am. I've been hiding in here..."

"What happened to you?" Les's eyes suddenly widened. "Did you run away?" It was the only conclusion he could come to based off the other boy's appearance.

"N-no. I was just..." He scrunched up his nose. "I can't remember. I just need to get back home."

"Whaddya mean, you don't remember?" Les asked.

"I mean, I can't remember how I got here. The last thing I remember is-I don't know, maybe this is just a dream!"

"It's not a dream for me," Les said.

"Is this..." The other boy was staring around. He jumped suddenly; the automatic paper towel dispenser had just gone off though no one was near it. The boy looked as if he'd never seen such an invention in his life. "...is this the future?"

"I don't know." Les frowned. "It's not the future for me."

"Well, when is it?"

"What?"

"I mean what's the year here?"

Les raised an eyebrow. "What year should it be?"

"1899, ain't it?"

Les's jaw dropped. "Not here!" he exclaimed. "What's going on?"

"I dunno. I just gotta get back to my mother and dad and Davey and-"

"Davey?!" Les nearly shouted. "My brother's name is Davey!" He ran to the door, peeked out to make sure no one was coming, and ran back to the boy. "Who are you?" he asked incredulously.

"I'm Les. I'm a newsie."

Les buried his face in his hands. How was this possible? Something weird was going on. "My name is Les, too." The newsie Les was silent, and the present-day Les looked up. "This shouldn't be possible."

"It shouldn't be, but it's happening."

"What're we gonna do...Les?"

"I dunno, but I gotta get back home, Les!"

Present-day Les smiled mischievously. "Don't you wanna see some stuff? It's not every day you get to see the future."

The other Les considered for only a moment. "Sure. As long as you help me figure out a way to get back to 1899."

"No problem. You ever seen a movie on the big screen, Les?"

The theatre was dark, so Davey couldn't see the resemblance between the two boys. Les whispered to his older brother that he'd met one of his "school friends" on the way back from the bathroom who was also going to the movie. Davey didn't mind the other boy sitting with them, and Les was just glad he didn't ask questions.

The movie was action-packed and filled with futuristic guns, spaceships, and jet-packs. There was a subtle love story, but Les thought it was stupid and therefore ignored it. The romance wasn't what everyone at school was talking about anyway. The excitement was all about the hero's awesome powers and his twenty-minute fight with the monster at the end. At first, the past-Les clutched the arms of his chair whenever there was a particularly loud explosion, but as the movie progressed, he got almost as into it as present-Les. As the credits began to roll, present-Les began to wonder how Davey was going to react when he realized who this other boy was. He pulled the other Les to his feet and handed his empty popcorn and soda to Davey. "I'll be right back, uh, we gotta go to the bathroom again."

"I do too, wait for me."

"No!" Les bit his lip. "I meant...actually we gotta go...meet his parents!" he explained. The other les nodded eagerly. "I'll meet you at the front door, Davey!" Les called, pulling past-Les after him as he ran out of the theatre. "We gotta hurry!"

The past-Les sniffed.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He wasn't crying. "Yeah. It's just weird seeing my brother...er, your brother...I don't know. It's weird seeing Davey here and not being able to say anything...he doesn't even know me here."

"Hey. It's okay. We'll get you back to _your_ Davey as soon as possible." He laughed. "You know what else is weird? Talking to a past version of myself."

The 1899-newsie-Les laughed too. "Yeah. That too."

They didn't know where to start, so they decided to go to the first place Les remembered being-the bathroom. "Which stall?"

"This one. I woke up sitting against the toilet."

"Gross."

"It was."

"I bet. Maybe we could flush you down the toilet." Les flushed the toilet to demonstrate. The past-Les flinched.

"Maybe not..."

"Um..."

"I just wish I could...wait!" Past-Les ran a hand through his hair. "I just remembered...it's like a dream..." There were several posters of old movies taped to the inside of the stall door. "I've seen this poster before!" He pointed. "Well, it wasn't exactly like this. It was a drawing my friend Jack made-"

"You know Jack too?!"

"-of-hey, yeah, I do! But he drew something just like this! A fella jumping into the air, holding a pape..."

Present-day Les clapped a hand over his mouth. The title of the old movie was "Newsies", and the poster had begun to glow. In one motion, the two Les's pressed their hands against the poster.

* * *

"Les? Are you up there?" A very familiar voice woke Les out of his daze. They were on a rooftop, in a place Les would have never recognized as New York unless he'd scene a picture in his history book. The other Les was right next to him. "That's Jack-I remember now! I came up here to look through his drawings."

"He doesn't like that," Les found himself saying.

"I know. That's why I was being sneaky about it...and I found that picture that was on the poster."

"And you touched it."

"And then I woke up..."

"...in the bathroom at the movie theatre."

"You gotta go back before Jack gets up here."

"I know." Present (or future, now) Les sighed. He looked over the edge of the railing. "This is just so cool."

"You need to get back."

"You got to spend two hours in my time...I want to spend some time here." Both the Les's could be stubborn when they wanted to.

Les grabbed his double's hand and pressed it against Jack's drawing.

Nothing happened.

"It's not glowing!" Les grinned; the other Les's eyes widened. Jack's footsteps were becoming audible on the stairs. "Now I have to stay for a while."

"You need to hide from Jack."

"Why? I wanna meet him."

"No, he's gonna go crazy if he sees us!"

"Well...okay. Fine, I guess you're right."

"There's a ladder-" Les led the other Les to the edge of the roof. "You think you can hang onto the rungs until Jack goes away?"

"Sure." Les swung a leg over the railing.

"Hurry!"

"Les? Who are you talking to?"

Jack opened the door to the rooftop. He expected to see Les and someone else, but he only saw Les, frantically trying to pick up Jack's drawings, which were spread all over the roof.

"Sorry!" Les said convincingly. "They just got knocked over!"

Jack snorted. "Sure they did. Why were you up here anyway?"

"No reason," Les said, shrugging. Jack didn't believe him, but he didn't push it. Easier to just laugh it off.

"Hah, sure. Who were you talking to anyway?"

"Just myself. Telling myself to hurry, you know. I thought you'd be mad."

"I ain't, not now anyway. Well, hurry, before I get mad. Davey's waiting for you to go home."

"Aw, Jack, can't we stay a little longer?"

"Don't ask me, kid." Jack tousled Les's hair. "Now hurry. If I find one of those drawings out of place, I ain't gonna be happy." He left, shaking his head and grinning.

Future-Les climbed back into the roof. "That was Jack."

"I know."

"I wanna go back now."

Les set the picture that had allowed them to travel through time on top of the pile. It still wasn't glowing. "You can't yet. I bet you have to spend as much time here as I spent in your time."

"Oh. Well, how about you show me around then?"

"Okay. But first I gotta lose Davey. Then we'll go do something fun."

Les watched from the shadows as the other Les spoke to his older brother. It was so strange to see Davey in such old tattered clothing that he was in shock when his double came back. After that they were able to enjoy scampering around the city. Les was amazed at how much New York had changed in a little more than a hundred years. He was amazed at how cheap everything was. He felt like laughing at the dresses ladies were walking around in, but he didn't. Everything seemed so dirty, but Les didn't care. It was too incredible to see everyday life in 1899.

All too soon, the two hours were up. "I gotta get home and eat dinner anyway. Let's go get you back, quick." Newsie-Les started back towards the Lodging House.

The other Les followed, beginning to think about what was going on back in his own time. Was Davey missing him? Had any time passed at all? He was sad to leave, but worries began to creep into his mind. What if he couldn't get back? What if he was stuck in 1899 forever? How could he live, hiding from people he knew but didn't know him?

But all his worries were unfounded. As soon as they climbed back on the rooftop, they could see the drawing glowing.

"Well, see you around."

"I guess. It was nice meeting you...Les."

"It was almost like meeting myself."

"It was _exactly_ like meeting myself."

"Yeah." Les adjusted his suspenders. The other Les knew that in his own time, such suspender straps would be considered an oddity, but here they were the norm.

They shook hands.

Then Les pressed his hand against Jack's drawing of a newsie jumping in the air and was pulled back to the future.

* * *

Les was sitting on the cold tile floor, leaning against...a toilet?

He was back.

"Les?"

He stood up and opened the stall door. Davey was entering the bathroom. "I looked everywhere for you and that other kid...what did you say his name was?"

Les hesitated.

Davey didn't wait for an answer. "His parents must have been right outside, huh?"

"You...you weren't looking too long, were you?"

"Nah, just a minute or two. What were you doing? Why are your shoes so dirty?"

Les looked down. His shoes were dusted with dirt off a street from 1899.

"Oh...they were, um, dirty before. Come on, let's go, Davey."

"Okay, Les."


	3. The Red Slide

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition.**

 **Word count: 2292**

 **Task: Your newsies go to a Waterpark.**

 **Prompts: Object-Pencil**

 **Color-Red**

 **Also a side note that I live in a place where there's usually snow nine months of the year, so my water park experience is pretty limited. Clearly, so is the newsies' in this story. Modern day AU, but they still refer to themselves as newsies. Enjoy!**

"I'll race you to the bottom!"

"You're on!"

Race and Specs launched themselves into adjoining slides, each of their inflated tubes squeaking slightly as they shot down and out of sight. Their yells echoed back up to their friends in line behind them. The boys who were proud to call themselves newsies had taken over the waterpark for the day. Little kids skittered away from them; parents glared or rolled their eyes; girls giggled and sucked in their already-flat stomachs to look even more attractive.

A crowd of rowdy teenage boys at a water park is bound to attract trouble, and though the newsies were good kids, they couldn't resist showing off and being a little stupid. Henry had already scraped his knee on the bottom of the landing pool trying to do some crazy dive stunt off his tube, and the snooty girl working the two tube slides scowled every time they all came tromping back up the slimy concrete stairs. Romeo had already tried to win her over; in response she scoffed, "As if!" and pushed him and his tube down the slide with her foot. While she had been distracted with him, Race, Mush, and Specs had shot down the other slide, one after the other, hollering at their triumph. The lifeguard called down after them, "Try that again and you're getting kicked out," while the other newsies roared with laughter. She turned to them, looking bored, and said, "Oh, grow up," adding under her breath, "Why did I have to take this shift?"

Overall, Jack thought their little outing was going swimmingly. No pun intended.

"Come on, newsies! Let's hit the Rio Grande!"

"Jack, it's called the Stream of Paradise," Crutchie pointed out.

"Oh, come on, don't even get me started on what that makes me think of." The newsies snickered. "Come on, Crutch, you can actually go on that one," he added imploringly. The Stream of Paradise wound all the way around the park, and you could sit in a tube and drift in the current without being splashed…much. It was the only part of the park Crutchie felt safe enough to go in, with his bum leg. The hundreds of stairs leading up to the slides were a drag anyway. He was content to sit at the bottom and watch the others come zipping down, often getting splashed but never really caring.

"Nah, I want to see you guys go down the red slide."

There was half a second of stunned silence, then—

"Yeah, right! You see how steep that thing is?" Spot yelled. He always hung out with their group, even though he lived nowhere near the rest of them. And it was always pretty amusing to have him around. Useful, too, Jack always joked. Spot continued, "You get the worst wedgie in the history of wedgies, not to mention getting water up your nose as you go down…" They all turned to watch as a large man came shooting down the dreaded red slide, arms crossed over his chest, sending up a wave ten feet high as the slide leveled out. The newsies got soaked.

"You're tellin' me you've never been on that thing?" Crutchie laughed. "This dumpy little park only has four slides and you skip out on one of them?" They were always making jokes about how small and lame the water park was, but in all honesty it was the only one they could afford to go to on a regular basis.

"Not worth it," Spot muttered.

"What about the rest of you? You never been on that thing either?" Crutchie asked. The newsies had the grace to look ashamed of themselves. Crutchie's mouth stretched into a sly grin. "Well, then, I dare you."

Spot snapped to attention. "Say what?"

"You heard me. I dare you."

"I don't—"

"I double dare you."

"Jack, make him—"

"He triple-dog-dares you," Jack said forcefully.

The other newsies oohed.

Spot couldn't turn down a dare—especially not a triple-dog-dare from Jack Kelly himself. "Under what condition?" he growled.

Jack shrugged. "Talk to Crutchie."

Crutchie had his answer ready. "That can be decided when you do it."

"I got this!" Race piped up. "How's about, Crutchie has to go too? In exchange?"

"What? That's dumb. I can't."

"Sure you can. You just gotta be careful."

"The stairs—"

"We'll help you up the stupid stairs," Race said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, Crutchie, that's a good idea!"

"It's only fair!"

"That slide is freaky!"

"Even Spot's never been down it!"

Crutchie frowned. "Well…hmm…since I've never been on one of these slides in my life…"

"That could change!"

"And it will require a lot more effort from me…"

"Not the actual going-down part!"

"Not to mention the fact of my leg…"

"Oh, stop whining…"

"Then I think that you should _all_ go down it before I do." An outburst of protest met these words. Crutchie held up his hand. "Spot can go first. If you all do it, then I'll say the dare's good and will do my end of it by going down the slide, assisted up the stairs by all of you."

"So, if one of us doesn't go down, Spot loses the dare?" Les asked, looking very worried.

Spot grasped the idea quickly. "Yeah, so you better all do it, or else!" he growled, staring the youngest down but addressing the newsies at large.

"Wait a minute!" Davey spoke up from the back of the group.

Everyone groaned, sure he was about to ruin their fun. "It's just a little dare, Davey!" Jack moaned.

"I was…I just thought that we should make it official. We should all sign our names on something. There's a spot underneath the red slide that none of the lifeguards can see—"

"That's too much work! I'm hot, I wanna get wet again!"

"Shut up, he's encouraging us to vandalize!" Jack said, staring at Davey with a grin. "That in and of itself might make history."

"I just thought—"

"Don't take it back now! You got something we can write with?" Jack mimed carving in the air. "Headline: Newsies' historic red slide dare, etched forever in the concrete of—"

"I got a pencil," Davey said sheepishly, holding up a neon-green mechanical pencil. Jack took it to examine.

"Ooh, mechanical? Nice one, Davey, can I keep it? Can never seem to keep these during school…real nice one too, has a bunch of led and a full eraser…"

They all etched their names into the bottom of the red slide, solemnly swore that they would go through with the dare, and began the long climb to the top of the slide, looking strangely small since they weren't carrying big tubes. Crutchie took his position at the bottom and prepared to keep track of who came down. The line for the red slide was basically nonexistent—everyone seemed to share Spot's feelings that it was the worst slide in the park.

There was a little commotion once the newsies all got to the top. There was a different lifeguard working this one, but she looked about as stuck-up and bored as the other one. "You guys are all going down?" she asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, for a dare," Jack answered. "Spot, you first."

"Why do I gotta go first?"

"Because, you're the one who made the dare with Crutchie. I'll go last so I can stay up here and make sure no one chickens out." He looked around at the newsies, who were breathing heavily from the climb and shivering from the wind that blew so hard at the top of the slide. "You better not chicken out. This is the only way we're getting Crutchie to do anything fun today. Yeah?" He got only murmurs in response. "Let's try that again. Yeah?"

"Yeah!" they chorused reluctantly.

"Okay, Spot, go!"

Spot stepped into the rushing water and clutched the bar, peering down. "You sure this is safe?" he asked the lifeguard casually.

"No one's ever died. You going or not?"

Spot sat down, still holding the bar above his head. "What if I fly out the end?"

"You won't," Davey said impatiently.

"Let's say I fall over the edge…"

"You won't."

"If I die, can I sue you?" Spot asked the lifeguard.

"Well, you can't sue _me_ , whether you're dead or alive, but your friends here could sue the park, I guess," she sighed.

Spot looked a little reassured. He gave a fierce nod and turned his attention to the slide again, preparing to launch himself down. But before he could do more than let go of the bar, Jack gave him a shove.

They heard him scream all the way down.

Jack began recruiting as soon as Spot stumbled out at the bottom. Spot made a show of tugging at his swim trunks and cursing loudly. "Never again!" His voice drifted all the way up to the newsies at the top of the slide.

"Come on, who's next? Race? Don't be chicken!"

"Nah, let someone else go."

"Bawk! Bawk!"

"All right, fine!" Race took a deep breath, then swung himself into the slide. His yells were quickly suppressed by water spraying into his mouth. By the time he reached the bottom, Jack was getting a line formed. Davey went next, to get it over with. Les followed quickly, scared without his brother's support. They slid down, one by one; some screamed and some just clamped their mouths shut. At the bottom, the relieved newsies who had already braved the slide cheered loudly as each one of their comrades came down, drenching them each time.

The line at the top was dwindling. "Come on, Romeo, do it!"

"It's really steep!"

"You wanna ruin this for all of us?"

"No, I'm just—"

"Don't you dare chicken out on me now!"

"Okay, okay!" Romeo sat down carefully in the rushing water and slowly scooted himself over the incline until he zipped out of sight.

"All right, Buttons, you're the last one."

"Except you."

"Yeah, but I don't count, not really."

"You sure you're gonna do it, Jack? You sure you aren't just making us all pee our pants just so you can come down the stairs and laugh at us? You and Crutchie? This isn't some kind of joke, is it?"

"We all signed our names to the—" Jack glanced at the lifeguard and quickly cut himself off. "You really think I would back out? After all you guys did it?"

"Nah…I guess not." Without further ado, Buttons launched himself down.

Jack was more nervous than he cared to admit, but he'd said it himself; he couldn't back down now. He stepped onto the slide and looked down at his friends, waiting for him below. With a muttered battle cry—"For Crutchie!"—he shot down.

Jack's adrenaline was pumping so that he couldn't think straight. Only one coherent thought came to mind: "I am going to die!"

When he finally came to a stop, he became aware of the fact that he was screaming. He stopped. The guys were cheering. All he said was, "Jeez, you were right, Spot, that gives you an awful wedgie!"

And then they were gone, as fast as they could back to the stairs in triumph, Crutchie in the midst of them for the first time ever, laughing. Jack sprinted to his bag, in a pile with the others on some grass nearby, and rifled through it until he found what he'd been searching for—his totally hipster Polaroid camera, with the instant-development film. He'd nearly forgotten about it. The boys were already halfway to the top by the time he got back to the slide. Jack didn't mind; he wanted to meet Crutchie at the bottom anyway. He could see they were taking turns carrying him piggy-back the whole way up. Jack got his camera ready. It seemed to be taking the newsies forever to reach the top, but Jack didn't mind.

They reached the top. Mush carefully let Crutchie down and held his arm tightly as he hobbled the last few steps to the slide. Jack could hear their chant. "Crutchie! Crutchie! Crutchie!"

Crutchie handed his crutch to Davey and looked down. He saw Jack waiting at the bottom. "This'll all be over in a few seconds," he told himself. "Besides, Jack's there."

With that final thought, he pushed himself down the slide.

Jack snapped a picture when Crutchie was halfway down. Even from far away, he could see Crutchie's slightly terrified, slightly excited face through the torrents of water cascading around him. The newsies screamed encouragement at him the whole way down. When he reached the bottom, sopping wet, the eyes of everyone in the water park were on him.

And then someone started clapping.

Jack didn't know how or if anyone knew what a big accomplishment it was for Crutchie to go down that slide, but they all must have gathered as much from the uproar the newsies were causing at the top of the slide. The applause came from all over the park, and when Jack helped Crutchie up, he was beaming.

"I did it," Crutchie said. Jack nodded, pulling one of Crutchie's arms around his shoulders so that Crutchie could walk.

"Proof," Jack announced, waving the developing photo from his Polaroid in the air. "Right here. Gave old Spot a run for his money."

"Sure did," Crutchie laughed.

They saw the newsies thundering back down the stairs.

"So now what?" Jack asked as they stood, waiting for Davey to bring Crutchie his crutch.

"Well…"

"Yeah?"

Crutchie grinned. "Wanna grab a tube? That yellow slide looked pretty fun…"

Jack knew he'd never forget that day as long as he lived.


	4. Disappointment

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition.**

 **Word Count: 619**

 **Task:** **Miss a Turn Card: This card, when played, prevents a player from being able to take their turn for that time around.** _Task: Write about a time when a character is unable to do something because of something about them or of something they have done in the past, and how they try their hardest to get to do this thing, then whether they succeed or not._

 **Prompts: Song-I'm a Believer (The Monkees)**

 **-Character: Sarah Jacobs**

 **To those who ship Sarah and Jack, I apologize.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing! All rights to this awesome song go to The Monkees.**

 _I thought love was only true in fairy tales._

He was Sarah's fairy tale prince. He was so handsome and charismatic; practically perfect in every respect. He was her oldest brother's best friend and her younger brother's idol. It was frightening, but exciting as well. It was love at first sight.

 _Meant for someone else but not for me._

And somehow, he was hers. They were young, in love, and nothing could come between them. He had come back for her. If he didn't love her, he would be in Santa Fe. But he loved her, and he was here.

 _Love was out to get me. That's the way it seemed._

Yet...he didn't seem as enthusiastic now, a month after the strike. He didn't visit her as often as he used to. He seemed so distant now. The more time they spent together, the more Sarah realized that she didn't know him at all. He was different...almost shallow. It was as if he always had somewhere better to be.

 _Disappointment haunted all my dreams._

And where should he rather be than with his lover?

 _Then I saw her face!_

There was a girl. She was so beautiful. She was so smart. She was amazing.

 _Now I'm a believer!_

Jack wanted to be with her. More than anything, he wanted to kiss her. Again.

 _Not a trace of doubt in my mind._

He told himself there was no question about it. He was in love. It should have been that simple, but there was just that small fact gnawing at his conscience.

 _I'm in love, I'm a believer!_

He already had a perfect love. He had stopped himself from going to Santa Fe for her. He had kissed her in front of all his friends in his greatest moment of victory.

 _I couldn't leave her if I tried._

Jack was in love, and it wasn't with Sarah.

 _I thought love was more or less a given thing._

Jack had kissed girls before; his previous attempts with girls had fallen apart within days. None of the newsies really had long-term relationships. Sarah had seemed real, she was perfect. He had really thought she was the one.

 _Seems the more I gave the less I got._

He had given up everything for Sarah, including the chance to go to Santa Fe. He had given up his lifetime dream for her! And what did he get in return? All his princess wanted to do was talk about mushy things he would much rather avoid. He would be content with kissing her all the time. Kissing that girl gave him such a rush. Why didn't she understand?

 _What's the use in tryin'? All you get is pain._

He had noticed himself looking at other girls again, in the way he had before he met Sarah. He didn't mean to, it just happened.

 _When I needed sunshine I got rain._

She was always so sulky. Why couldn't they just have fun together? He didn't want Sarah to become just another girl he had kissed, but if she kept acting so stupid it might turn out that way.

 _Then I saw her face!_

Now, Katherine? Katherine was different. He wanted to be with her.

 _Now I'm a believer!_

But he couldn't, because he was with Sarah.

 _Not a trace of doubt in my mind._

He had to have Katherine as his own. He would find a way. He knew he could. He was Jack Kelly, strike leader, cowboy! Besides, Katherine gave him something to believe in. She wouldn't let him down.

 _I'm in love, I'm a believer!_

"Davey, I can't be with your sister anymore."

 _I couldn't leave her if I tried._

It was worth it.


	5. A School in the Alley

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition.**

 **Word Count: 2303**

 **Task: A newsie or newsies takes/take on high school.**

 **Prompts: 1) Attitude c) prideful**

 **2) Classes b) math**

 **3) Type b) one story**

 **Sorry it's late, I (stupidly) didn't look at the Circulation dates until after it was due.**

 **Enjoy!**

"What're you doing, Davey?" pestered Les.

Davey ignored him and continued to set out supplies in neat rows in a dusty alley.

"Where'd you get those?"

"None of your business," Davey said.

"You stole 'em, didn't you? You took 'em without asking!"

"I did not!" Davey said, his cheeks flushing. He stood up straight and put a hand on Les's shoulder. "Now, get out of here. Don't you have more papes to sell?"

"It's almost lunch time," Les argued. "And you've only sold eleven. You're just making more work for me! Why do I always have to sell your papes for you?"

"Because," Davey answered calmly, "Younger sells more papes. Isn't that what Jack always says?"

"Sure, but—"

"Come on, Les. This is important. I'll help you sell after lunch, okay?"

"Fine. But I'm telling Mother you stole those slates."

Davey frowned and gave Les a push. "I told you, I didn't. They were lying in a junk pile behind the school."

"How about the chalk?"

"Just get outta here."

* * *

As a nearby clock tower struck noon, newsies from every corner of Manhattan left their posts and headed for the alley near the Lodging House. Usually they took their lunch breaks on their own, as soon as they had earned enough coins for a quick morsel, but today they took it together. Davey was waiting. The newsies slowly gathered around Davey, whose face was streaked with white chalk. "Let's get a move on," Jack said. "Tell us what this is all about."

"Well," Davey said proudly, letting them into the alley, "It's a school."

"A school?"

"No way!"

"Where'd you get all this stuff?"

"Who's gonna teach us?"

Les pushed his way to the front, where Davey had set a big, cracked chalkboard against the brick wall. "I'll teach you all!" he said grandly. "I'se been to school!"

Jack swatted him away. "You sure don't act like it, kid," he smirked.

"Davey!" Romeo shouted, looking worried. "There ain't enough little square things for all of us!" He pointed accusingly at the slates, lined up in neat rows on the ground with a piece of chalk at each one.

Davey bit his lip. The newsies all looked at him. "Here's the thing." He faltered. "If you want, I can teach you." There were shouts of approval at this, and Davey looked more confident. "But look, I can't teach you all, because you're all at different levels of education."

"He means you don't all know the same stuff," Jack translated.

"So I'm gonna need some help."

"But none of us has ever been to school as long as you!" Specs pointed out.

"Yeah. So the first school I wanna teach is gonna be 'high school'. That's…" Davey took a deep breath. "That's only for the older ones."

As Davey had expected, there was an outbreak of protests among the younger boys. "That ain't fair, Davey!" Les shouted. "You can't do that!"

"It's the way it's going to be!" Davey said loudly. "Then all us older ones will teach you younger ones stuff. We can even recruit some little kids that don't live in our Lodging House."

"You mean those little shrimps that are scared of us?" Jack said. They often saw kids as young as four or five selling papers.

"Exactly. A lot of them can't even read." Davey paused. "A lot of you still need help reading too. It'll be good to be able to read the headlines."

"So who's all gonna be in high school?" Race asked.

Davey scanned the group, all of whom stood up straighter and attempted to look smart. "Race…Specs…Crutchie…Albert…" He slowly said a few more names. The chosen older newsies quietly stepped aside. The others stood stiffly in anticipation. "…and Jack, of course," Davey finished. The younger boys sighed in defeat. "The rest of you, start recruiting. Tell every kid you meet that there will be school from noon to one o'clock every day in a few weeks. Can you do that?" They all nodded.

"You better teach us good," said Henry, among the youngest of the newsies. "We'se ready for learning, but we gotta make money too."

The younger boys headed back out to the streets, while the older ones each took a place behind a slate, facing Davey's big chalkboard. Jack, used to being the leader, was thrown by this reversal of roles and therefore sat in the center of the front row, ready if Davey needed help. Crutchie sat beside him, smiling as he set his bum leg out in front of him and picked up his slate. Davey nervously went in front of them, a piece of chalk clutched tightly in his hand. They were ready to begin.

* * *

"An education," Davey declared, "is important for a good life." On the blackboard he wrote EDUCATION in big letters. "Without an education, it's hard to get a good job when you grow up."

"Do we have to write that down?" Jack asked.

"No," said Davey. "And no speaking out of turn, otherwise we'll never get anything done. In real school, you have to raise your hand to ask a question."

Jack raised his hand.

Davey sighed. "What, Jack?"

"Did you steal all this stuff?"

Davey groaned. "No, I didn't." He erased the blackboard with his hand. "Now, I want you all to write your names on your slates. If you need help, raise your hand."

The alley was quiet as the boys got down to business, scratching out the letters of their names diligently on their slates. Davey watched apprehensively. Not one of them raised a hand. Finally, they all seemed to be done. "Hold them up so I can see," Davey commanded. He grinned. The names were better than he'd thought they would be. Sure, Crutchie had run out of room and squeezed the last three letters into the corner of his slate, and Albert's 'R' was backwards, but their letters were solid and well-formed. "That's great!" Davey said happily. "We can start on big words right away."

"What kinda big words?" Race asked. "I'm hungry. Can we bring food tomorrow?"

"Sure," Davey said. "But today you'll have to wait. Can somebody hand me a pape?"

Albert tossed him one, and Davey shook it open. "Let's just read through it together, and if there's a word we don't know, we'll write it down and I'll define it."

"You mean tell us what it means?" Jack asked.

"Yes. You guys gotta raise your hands, okay?"

"That just takes up more time," Jack muttered.

Davey pretended not to hear him. "Everyone grab a paper and we'll read the first story aloud together." There was a rustle of newspaper as they all reached into their bags and tugged one out. "Ready? Here we go. 'Train Derailment in Pennsylvania Causes Evacuation…'"

The hour seemed to go by quickly. Before Davey knew it, the clock tower was striking one, and the newsies got to their feet to head back out and sell. Jack was the last one to leave. He helped Davey collect the slates and put them in a pile by the wall. "What're we doing tomorrow?"

"Probably math," Davey said. "Everyone's already so good at reading."

"Bet you didn't think we were that smart, huh?"

Davey glanced at Jack. "That's not what I said."

"It's what you meant, though, ain't it?" Jack was in a strange mood. "Just because you spent your days in a school before you came here don't mean you'se better than the rest of us."

Davey tried to stay calm. "Jack, I'm just trying to help. I thought it went well today!"

"There's better things we could be doing with our time," Jack spat. "We gotta make a living. We don't all have a warm, cozy family to go home to at night."

"Everyone always takes a lunch break anyway. Why not spend it here, filling your heads with knowledge?"

"You think we'se dumb, don't you? You think you'se so much smarter than the rest of us!"

"I should have said 'our'. Filling our heads with knowledge. Because I have a lot to learn too. We can all help each other."

"No. You just wanna make yourself seem so intelligent—"

"It seems," said Davey angrily, "that you don't care whether we learn or not. It seems that you're jealous that you didn't think of it first!"

Jack exploded. "Jealous?" he shouted. "I ain't jealous!"

"Then why are you trying to tell me how to do things?"

"Because I know them better than you! And besides, I let you do things your way. I let you separate the younger boys, even though I could see how sad it made them. I raised my hand and acted like you were in charge for once. I did everything you told us to, meek as a lamb. But I don't like it, Davey. I don't like this system you made one bit."

"What system?"

"You're drawing lines between us! You're pulling the smarter ones out!"

"That's not—"

"We was all the same before! Everyone helped everyone! This is too strict!"

"Then don't come!" Davey shouted, finally losing his temper. "Don't come to the stupid school, if you can't stand not being in charge!"

"You know what? Maybe I won't!" Jack bellowed, storming out of the alley. Davey stared after him, breathing heavily, wondering how such a good idea had taken such a terrible turn.

* * *

Davey was surprised to see Jack again in the alley the next day at lunch. They had all brought food this time, including Davey. He munched on a sandwich as he wrote some math problems on the big chalkboard.

1+1=_

2+3=_

7-5=_

Davey kept writing, making the problems a little harder as he went. Behind him he heard Jack whispering loudly to Crutchie. "Who does he think we are, babies? If any of my newsies can't answer one plus one, I'll slug 'em." Crutchie shushed Jack.

Davey's ears were red when he turned around, but his voice was steady. "I'm going to assign one problem to each of you." He began calling names and assigning the problems, putting a strike through each one as he gave it away.

Finally, only Jack was left, and the only problem left was 1+1=_. Jack smirked. "Well, I guess I know which one—"

"Oops," Davey said, staring at him with clenched fists. "It seems I made a mistake. This is much too easy."

Jack narrowed his eyes. Davey let the anger bubble up inside him. He's ruining my school, Davey reminded himself, then turned around and erased the problem. He slowly wrote a new equation, pressing down so hard that small chunks of chalk fell to the ground.

1,397,458 + 7,520,985 = _

The other boys were finished with their problems by the time Davey had written the equal sign. Jack's jaw dropped. "That ain't even gonna fit across my slate!" he protested.

"You're smart, Jack. Figure it out." Davey tossed his own chalk to the ground and crossed his arms. He was feeling cruel. Jack clenched his jaw and began scratching out the problem, pressing down so hard that his chalk actually broke in half. Crutchie handed him a new piece. All the other boys stared at Jack's slate, glancing up at Davey every few seconds. As Jack began to solve the arithmetic, Davey spat, "Don't forget the comma separators."

This was the last straw for Jack. He threw his slate to the ground, where it cracked in half, and jumped to his feet so fast Davey fell back against the big chalkboard, startled. "Who do you think you are?" Jack bellowed, before lunging at Davey.

Davey had gotten into scuffles before (mostly to get Les out of them), but he'd never had a full-on fight with someone like Jack. And Jack was not someone to be crossed. His fists flew with sickening precision, socking Davey in the ribs, the jaw, the ears, anywhere he could reach to inflict pain. The other boys leapt to their feet and tried to separate them, but as a result only got in the way of Jack's fists. Davey felt blood trickle down his chin and reached for the nearest weapon he could see to defend himself—the big chalkboard. With one free hand he snatched it and lifted it up. A moment later it crashed down on Jack's head. Jack tumbled off of him, and the blackboard shattered around them. Race took the opportunity to jump onto Jack's stomach to prevent him from getting up again, and Albert held Davey down warily.

"What the hell are you two doing?!" Race screamed at them. "What's going on? We'se supposed to be helping each other learn, ain't we? So we can teach the little kids? Ain't this what this is all about?"

Crutchie approached them and quietly asked Race to get off Jack. Jack sat up but didn't attack Davey again. "This ain't about who's the leader," Crutchie said.

"I know Jack's our leader," Davey groaned. "But I thought we all agreed I was our teacher, at least for now."

"I thought we did too," Crutchie said, glancing at Jack.

"I swear, I'll teach you everything I know." He looked at everyone, but was really speaking to Jack. "Then we'll all be on the same level, and we can teach the younger ones. If you know something that I don't, feel free to tell me, and we can teach it to everybody here. I'm not saying I know everything. I know that you all probably know things I don't. I just want everybody to learn."

"I'll help you fix the blackboard," Jack muttered.

Davey smiled slightly, though his lips were bloody. "Good, because I have no idea how."

Jack glanced at him. "I guess that's something I'll teach you."


	6. Refuge Escape (beginning)

**This story was written for the Newsies Pape Selling Competition - Semi Finals!**

 **For the semi-finals, we had to write a three-part story with our teammates. My team, Newsies of New York, was assigned to write about OC's in the Refuge. I wrote the beginning of the story, TheDcComicsNerd wrote the middle, and Emador wrote the end.**

 **Word count: 2615**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Georgi was in the Refuge again, and she was not very happy about it.

It wasn't just the fact that she hated this place more than any other place on the stinking streets of New York. Everyone hated the Refuge. It was a place filled with sadness, anger, and filth. It was a place where kids lost all hope.

She wouldn't have minded it as much if she had earned it. Yes, Georgi, like so many others, had learned that the Refuge was a badge of honor. Sure, it was better to stay clear of it, but if you walked to the Refuge with your head held high—with purpose—well, kids looked up to you. There was a great bravery about it.

But this time—ugh, she shuddered in anger to even think about it—this time was stupid. She was actually innocent. Why would she go and steal some fancy old necklace and try and get away with it? Yet these rich people had tried to pin the crime on her. They were new clients, and she had done a darn nice job sweeping their chimney, too. Snyder wouldn't listen to Georgi's protests—she had been in the Refuge too many times for him to even consider believing her. Now she had to serve two months in the Refuge for no good reason. The last three weeks since she'd been thrown in this dump were the longest of her life.

Nonetheless, there was a bright side. There was a chance for escape this time, and boy, did Georgi ever want to take it.

Georgi was smart. She had thought of escaping the Refuge before, but knew there was no way it would work out if she was alone. There were too many risks.

It had been different before the strike. Snyder was all-powerful among the poor kids of New York; if he was after you, you had no chance. He had loads of backup, too. Then the strike happened, he was thrown in jail, and for a few joyful months, the kids were free. Georgi was free. She knew she owed it all to Jack, but couldn't bring herself to admit it.

Well, apparently Snyder had been able to persuade some folks a little higher up the food chain that he ought to be let out before his sentence was up. And once he was back out again, he managed to get the Refuge started back up again, in a kind of underhanded way. Snyder kept things hushed up, but it didn't change the fact that he was rounding up kids just like before, slowly raising the Refuge to its previous standards.

Well, if there was ever a time to escape, it was while Snyder was still keeping the Refuge quiet.

Georgi had also discovered a possible partner in crime.

She'd met Lucy during the strike. As Georgi had been doing anything she could to avoid being around Jack and his friends, she had been glad to find another girl around her age. Lucy was also in and out of the Refuge. After a such a brief conversation, Georgi was surprised that Lucy recognized her when the two were in the Refuge together months later. At night, over the past few weeks, they'd whispered together meaninglessly, mostly about how much they hated Snyder. But tonight, Georgi decided to bring up the frightening topic.

"You ever think about escape?"

There were so few girls in their bunkroom that everyone was sort of spread out. Georgi had swung down from her top bunk and was sitting with Lucy, poised to spring back up the second she heard footsteps or the creak of a door that meant someone was coming to check the dormitory.

Lucy glanced at her in the moonlight. "Of course I do. All the time."

"Me too. Could never pull it off alone though." Georgi held her breath. Lucy was silent for a moment.

"You think we could do it?"

"I sure want to try."

"This is my fourth time here," Lucy said. "But I've stolen things loads of times without getting caught. I can definitely be sneaky. I say, let's do it."

"We've gotta be smart about it, though," Georgi whispered, glad that Lucy was willing but nervous she would want to go about it the wrong way. "We can't get caught. We need a plan."

"Right. That's easy. It's classic. We tie a bunch of bed sheets together, toss them out the window, climb down and take off!"

"Shh!" another girl hissed from across the room. Lucy and Georgi froze, listening for sounds out in the corridor. After a moment of silence, Georgi continued below her breath.

"We would need at least two other people, one outside the Refuge and another one here," she said quickly. "One lookout for in here, and one out there. If we climb across the roof, we can climb down the fire escape ladder. The first person to get down would have to run and cause some commotion to distract Snyder while the second person and the inside lookout escaped. Then the outside lookout would get over to Snyder and the first person could escape. It's all about the timing."

"That's the most complicated thing I've ever heard," Lucy snorted. "Don't you think we might need a couple more lookouts? One outside each door? One to block each window? A couple more to distract Snyder?"

It took Georgi a second to realize she was being sarcastic, but even then, Georgi frowned and crossed her arms in a huff. "I've had the plan for a long time," she muttered.

"Hey, I'm not saying it won't work, I'm just saying there's got to be an easier way to—"

A loud pounding on the door made them both jump. Georgi was back up to her bed in a flash. Snyder's leering voice made her shiver. "If I hear one more sound from this room, I swear you'll be punished. I know exactly who you are." Georgi held her breath for a long time after the door clicked closed.

A voice right in her ear startled her. "So who are these other two people you're thinking of, Miss Brains?"

Lucy was standing on the bed below and hanging on Georgi's bunk.

"Don't call me that," Georgi growled, secretly pleased that Lucy was willing to carry out the plan. "I don't really know yet—but I have an idea, at least for the person to stand watch outside. I don't really like him—not at all, really—"

"Spit it out, won't you?"

Georgi sighed. "You ever hear of Jack Kelly?"

Lucy just about fell off the bunk. "Ever heard of him? The Jack Kelly? Bread Angel? Captain Jack? Cowboy? Who the hell hasn't heard of him?"

"Wouldn't that just make him beam?" Georgi murmured under her breath. "Yeah, he's my cousin."

"Are—you—kidding?"

"I wish I was."

Lucy blinked. "Are you telling me that your cousin is the famous Jack Kelly…and you don't even like him?"

"It's a long story. Anyway, rumor has it that he's coming here to bring us all some food tomorrow."

"Great! You saying we can ask him then?"

"Keep your shoes on, of course that's what I'm saying."

"Well, ain't that great?"

"I guess. He's not my first choice, but if we wanna get out of here, he's our best bet."

"What about the other person? Who are we gonna trust from in here?"

Georgi looked around at the darkened room. "I dunno yet."

"Hey!" Lucy suddenly brightened. "We could use a distraction. And I've got just the person."

"Who's that?"

"Katherine! All this talk about Jack reminded me of her. She's a close friend of mine. She—you do know who she is, don't you?"

"Sure. She's Jack's sweetheart."

"She's also a reporter. You can ask Jack to ask her to help us distract Snyder."

"How?" Georgi asked.

Lucy grinned. "She can ask Snyder for an interview. You know, pretend she's doing a report on the Refuge. He'd be all for it."

"But isn't Snyder trying to keep the Refuge kinda on the down-low right now?"

Lucy shrugged. "At least it would distract him. All Jack's gotta do is tell Katherine it's for me, and I'm sure she'll do it."

"Okay, if you say so."

"So—"

"Shh!" Georgi suddenly sat up, holding up a hand for quiet.

"What the—"

Georgi put a hand over Lucy's mouth, her eyes wide.

The door flew open with a bang, and Snyder stormed in.

"All right! Both of you! Down on the floor, now! Everybody up! I want you all to see what happens when I find you talking after lights-out!"

Lucy stumbled backwards, having lost her footing, while Georgi crouched on her bunk.

"Now!" roared Snyder, grabbing Lucy's arm and throwing her to the ground. Georgi knew things would get much, much worse if she didn't obey, so she jumped meekly to the floor beside Lucy. The other girls peered out from their beds anxiously.

Snyder brought his cane down on Lucy's back—once, twice, three times. Georgi stopped counting. Her body tensed, knowing she was next, and when the first blow came, she squeezed her eyes shut and managed not to cry out. She would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry. Lucy was just as stubborn. Finally, Snyder kicked them both and snarled, "Back to bed! Let this be a warning for you all!" As Lucy struggled to get to her feet, Snyder grabbed her by the hair. "Such a waste," he spat. Georgi was about two seconds away from attacking him when he let Lucy go and turned around to grab the front of Georgi's shirt. "And you…I'm watching you, little girl," Snyder sneered. Georgi shuddered, feeling his hand against her chest. Then he threw her on the bed and left the room.

They didn't speak another word for the rest of the night.

* * *

The next day, around noon, Nellie came.

Nellie looked filthy when Snyder dragged her into the girls' dormitory. Her face was flushed in defiance, and she kept her eyes on the ground. "Let—go—of—me!" she gasped. Snyder laughed cruelly and pushed her to the ground.

"She'd better know all the rules by evening or you'll all be punished," he said casually, slamming the door.

Lucy went right up to the new girl and crouched down beside her. "What's your name, kid?"

"Nellie," the girl muttered.

"You ain't never been here before?"

"No."

"Well, the rules are easy enough to learn. You don't piss Snyder off. You don't leave here unless he says you do. You don't talk in bed at night. You don't talk too loud during the day. You don't complain, even though there'll be plenty to complain about. Here, there's an open bunk right here." Lucy gently tugged Nellie to her feet and led her to a bunk beside Georgi's.

Nellie sat quite still on the bed. Once the excitement of a new girl had died down, everyone went back to their own business.

Lucy motioned Georgi over. "Hey," she said in a low voice. "I think we found ourselves the newest member of our escape team."

"What? Nah, I don't know. She don't seem…"

"She's quiet enough," Lucy pointed out.

"Yeah, but—"

"Come on, she's new, she's upset. You remember being new, don't you? Escape is the only thing on your mind!"

"I dunno if we can trust her, straight up, just like that." Georgi was still hesitant.

"I guess that's a chance we're gonna have to take, now ain't it?"

There was a pause. Georgi thought for a moment.

"Okay. Let's ask her tonight, before Jack comes."

* * *

"So," Lucy whispered. They were sitting beside Nellie on the younger girl's bunk. "What're you in for?"

"Beating someone up," Nellie murmured. Lucy laughed.

"Understandable, though I always leaned towards the stealing edge of crime. Listen, what do you think about…escaping?" Lucy proposed carefully, laying a hand on Nellie's shoulder.

Nellie sharply pushed Lucy's hand away and said nothing.

"Hey, it's all right. Your first time, I get it. You're a little freaked out."

Nellie sighed in defeat. "Yeah."

Georgi spoke up. "We've got a plan and everything. We just need one more person from in here to carry it out."

"I dunno if I'll be a very good person for that," Nellie whispered.

"Aw, sure you will!" Lucy said.

Georgi bit her lip. "We ain't gonna get in trouble, if that's what you'se worried about. And listen, if we do, we get in trouble together."

"Wanna hear the plan?" Lucy asked. "Georgi here came up with it, and it's gonna work. It involves Jack Kelly. She's Jack Kelly's cousin! Can you believe it? And she doesn't even like him." Soon Lucy and Georgi had told Nellie the entire plan for their escape. Georgi was still hesitant about Nellie, who didn't talk much and seemed as if she might be unreliable, but she forced herself to at least pretend to trust her.

"So what do you say?" Georgi asked finally.

Nellie made eye contact with her for the first time. "Okay, I guess."

"You trust us? 'Cause we're trusting you."

Nellie frowned. "I guess I'll have to now, huh?"

Just then, they heard a soft knock on the window.

A visit from Jack Kelly to the Refuge was rare, but was nonetheless filled with excitement. Half a dozen of the girls rushed to the window to help him in and to take the bread he had brought them. Georgi wrinkled her nose when she saw the smirking shadow of her cousin, and Lucy laughed at the rush of girls. "They all wish they were Katherine!"

Georgi ignored her and reluctantly approached the window, where Jack stood with his hands on his hips, overseeing the distribution of bread to the room full of sleeping girls.

"Hey," she murmured. Jack glanced over, then beamed when he recognized her.

"Georgi! Since when have you been in here again?"

"It don't matter. Listen, Jack, I need your help." It pained her to say those words.

"With what?"

"Escape. Me and two other girls." She leaned in closer and told him the plan as quickly as she could. She had to be quiet so the other girls wouldn't hear. Their whispers and shuffles were enough to mask her words. Jack was frowning by the end of the explanation. "You don't think we can do it, do you?" Georgi huffed.

"Nah, I think it's a good plan. But are you sure these two other girls ain't gonna back down on you? I don't want you getting hurt, Georgi."

Georgi rolled her eyes. "It don't matter about me," she said.

Jack sighed. "I gotta go now."

"Jack, wait! There's one more thing. You still have the sweets on Katherine?"

"Sure do." He smirked. "And she's got the sweets on me."

"Lucy, one of the other girls, knows her. Ask Katherine to pretend to be doing a report on the Refuge so she can interview Snyder. That'll be our distraction so we can escape."

"Ask Katherine?"

"Lucy says she'll do it for her," Georgi said stoutly.

Jack ran a hand through his hair. "I guess that might work. Okay, I'll go with this extremely well-thought-out plan of yours and see what happens."

"You'll be there? And Katherine, too?"

"I'll be there. I don't know why you're relying on me now, though."

"I don't either. It's just that you'se our only chance. And I'm taking this chance while I still can."

Jack grinned. "Those are words to make a cousin proud!" he said, and then disappeared out the window.


End file.
